I did a rear pad change yesterday on my 2012 XF Supercharged and noticed that some of the suspension joint boots had split. The joints are all still good but I'd like to replace the boots if possible before wear occurs. Does anyone know if they are available? The car has 30K miles.

 

Looks to me that you can't buy the boot(s) by itself/themselves and you have to buy the whole part, which I believe is the tie-rod assembly, part # C2D51044, see here: https://parts.jaguarreno.com/oem-par...UtMGwtdjgtZ2Fz
Might be good insurance anyway as you never know the joint(s) might be damaged anyway.

 

Agreed - with the boot split it's a good idea to replace the entire joint with a new assembly.

 

Hello,

Provided the joints are still good as you state, try the folks below.

http://www.balljointboots.co.uk/

Used them for the boot covers on my S Type, and worked well.

Have you, or did you clean the underside of the car with chemical cleaner at anytime?

Strange they have perished the way they have and the underside is very clean?

 

The OP is here in Texas where we don't worry about rust and corrosion. It rarely snows, seldom rains and when it does, it all melts and evaporates within thirty seconds because its 110 degrees at ground level. We only worry about the plastic, rubber and vinyl bits of our cars here.

 

Thanks for the tip, I'll look into it. I've owned the car since new and it's never been cleaned underneath apart from rain water. There has been some discussion on other forums about the quality of the suspension boots generally so it seems to affect multiple models. If I find anything I'll post up.

 

I had this happen on the same joints....joints were still very good...ended up finding atv boots on ebay that fit perfect....they were from Bulgaria but good quality...size was 15mm on small end and 52 on large end i believe...they also have the circlip notches

 

Good to know, the reason, I asked was my 2001 S type in UK is fine rubber boot wise, and the 2006 4.2 V8 in SA has the same troubles with suspension boot rubbers, but I did clean underneath with degreaser and water jet to remove dust and mud.

The XF 2013 3.0SC is fine so far, touchwood.

Good to know the weather conditions in Texas, Hot Hot and then Hot.

Chin Chin.

 

Well thank you for that. I have been to Texas a few times, and indeed it is sunny. The reason I asked was the photo in the thread of the OP showed a suspension strut sprayed in duck egg green with over spray on the lower bush. I was only enquiring if he had at some stage washed and cleaned the underside.

But thanks for the Texas weather report. I take it I can remove chemical contamination from the causes of boot cover deterioration?

 

Yes that is factory paint on the struts.
I have always found the rubber boots go bad long before the actual joint does.
Now I just wait until they make noise or exhibit wear or looseness.

Those rear tie rod ends are very common and come from the very first Lincoln LS/S Type Jaguar way back in 1999/2000.
The first ones had a small amount of movement built in to give a bit of passive rear wheel steer effect. Replacement tie rods ends did away with this movement and everything is just a solid steel bar now.
I have not checked but will bet those original Lincoln LS rear tie rods will bolt right on!
.
.
.

 

If you replace for boot cracks evrytime they crack, you will replace 3 to 1. I have seen those with no boots, dry dirt encrusted grease and still no play. I only replace suspension pieces on mine when i get play or broken bushings. And then only oem. I leaned the hardway about cheap aftermarket crap. I will replace those all day if you have an extended warranty as they will pay for them. I just dont really recommend those pieces for customer pay unless you just want to replace them.

 

XF Toe link bars are not that expensive on the aftermarket and even the Jag OEM ones are made in CHINA, but you should do both and get an alignment after. Did mine at 80kmi
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ervice-174271/

 

My left side upper boot has split now at only 42,000 miles. Can't seem to find boots that are 15 and 52mm as mentioned. SNG Barratt lists the whole stabilizing link rod for $54.40 but its special order non-stock item.

https://www.sngbarratt.com/us/#!/Eng...4-643d25ce103d

Also found Lemfoerder rod on Ebay for $84.84. I don't know if its the same as the SNG Barratt part or not.

Anyone found a link to the perfect replacement boot or ordered the $54 rod and can confirm its the right one and good quality? (or just use the boots off of it) Bill Will's links in the other thread where he ordered from are old and seem no longer active.

 

I agree, don't get cheap aftermarket parts, but there are inexpensive quality aftermarket parts. ACDELCO makes the rear suspension parts, and they have a lifetime warranty. Keep in mind that the OEM isn't exactly the best quality if you are having problems in 40K miles, so ACDELCO couldn't be any worse. For example, this one is only $30 for the stabilizer link with the lifetime warranty. That part also has the boots split on the OEM:

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...47867&jsn=1031

 

I wanted to follow up on this. Ordered the Lemforders from SNG Barratt UK quite some time ago and just finally got around to installing them today. But I want to warn anyone following that I could only use about 3/4ths of them. The weird thing is that although they came in identical packaging with identical part numbers, one was pretty much identical to the original Jaguar part (only insignificant variations) but the other was slightly different but in a critical way. In the interest of time, I chose not to try to modify it tho it could be done. See the photo below. The one on the right is the original. It has an 8mm hex machined into the end of the threaded shaft. The one on the left is one of the Lemforder's. Instead of a hex like the original, it has flats on the shoulder. That would be fine IF it weren't deep down in a well where you can't possibly get a thin wrench on those flats.

Since only one of my inner boots was split, in the interest of time I chose to re-use the one that wasn't split and just threaded the new outer rod onto the original inner rod for the left side. At some point in the future that that original boot finally splits, I can mill some flats on the threaded end of the new Lemforder part. That hex is critical to be able to unscrew and screw the lock nut onto the rod because you have to be able to keep the end from turning. So if anyone else wants to try ordering the parts from SNG Barratt, the price is right, but you might want to try to confirm which style of part you are going to get. You may luck out and get ones that are identical to the Jaguar originals or you may get the mickey mouse variety or like me, they might send you one of each.

And now that I've got the originals off, I may try to source some rubber boots if I get motivated but not a high priority anymore. The original parts are not badly worn yet, but with split boots, the grease would eventually all be washed out, sand and grit would get in there and wear out pretty fast.

And it wasn't a particularly hard job to change these out. If you got sort of an open wheel spoke pattern, you can leave the tires on the ground (i.e. like parked on a 4-post lift or ramps), you can take them off easily, slip it straight out through the wheel once its loose, nothing will move or bind up, and you can adjust the new ones till they slip right back in perfect position.

 

Hi guy i don't understand why you don't put the grease before put back ball joint ?

 

did you ever source boot covers? i have 2012 xk with 49,000 babied miles and noticed front spring insulators crumbling and saw my upper control arm boots torn. The place in Bulgaria on ebay has good reviews and many many sizes. Older models use 15-30-23mm but would LOVE TO KNOW what size my control arm boots are! Also my sway link boot covers are torn but A/C Delco or Moog are only about $60 for he pair so easier to just replace link. Joints are perfect and solid and last oil change even FT Myers Jaguar dealer said there good, however they "recommend" changing as they don't sell just the boot, only entire parts and $4,400 parts/labor!!

 

The ebay seller quoted by the original poster has stopped selling online. Has anyone used another seller with the 13-30-22 dimensions for front UCA boots?